A 34-year-old Phillipsburg man arrested earlier this month for allegedly owing more than $110,000 in child support is in relatively rare company in New Jersey.

The state's 299,238 child support cases have a total $226 million
owed in delinquent and scheduled payments, according to recent statistics from the New Jersey Department of Human Services. In 2,223 of these cases, or about 0.74 percent, a parent owed more than $100,000, said department spokeswoman Nicole Brossoie.

One such parent is Stephen Wilson, who was among several people recently
arrested by the Warren County Sheriff's Office for failing to make child support payments, officials said.

The sheriff's office said Wilson owed $110,823 when he was picked up March 5 at home.

Wilson has been released from custody, according to jail records. Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

Serving child support warrants is part of the sheriff's
office's everyday duties as the "enforcement arm of the court," Warren County Sheriff David
Gallant said. A family court judge issues a bench warrant after a parent misses two
or more payments or fails to appear at an enforcement hearing, he said.

"We deal with them on a regular basis," Gallant said, "those and
criminal warrants and fugitive warrants. It's kind of our bread and butter."

The court determines how much a parent who
doesn't have custody of a child must pay the other parent. This is
generally a calculation based on the income of both parents and the average
amount that is spent on the child, according to the Department of Human Services child support website, njchildsupport.org.

Payments are usually automatically
deducted from the parent's paychecks, but in some cases a judge will arrange
for payments to be made in a different manner.

The reasons people neglect to make payments vary but
can include unemployment, other financial considerations and ex-spousal spite, Gallant said.

"There could be a variety of reasons. I don't know the reason
the particular individual falls behind," he said. "We don't weigh in on that.
We're charged with enforcing the arrest."